Mid Day Meal; Charts, pictures/films of children suffering from food deficiencies and disabilities

Activities

Studying the variety of food in different regions in India; preparing a menu of balanced diet in the context of the diversity of foods eaten in different parts of the country. Classifying foods according to food components; test for starch, sugars, proteins and fats.

STUDY - 2. Materials

What are our clothes made of? How did people manage when there were no clothes? Are some of our clothes made of materials obtained from plants? In what kinds of places do these plants grow? Which parts of the plants are used for making clothes?

Key Concepts

Different types of cloth materials – cotton, wool, silk and synthetics. Development of clothing materials. Plant fibre, especially cotton and jute; production of cotton, jute and other locally available plant fibres; types of soil required for the growth of different fibrous plants.

Resources

Sharing of prior knowledge with parents and community. Archaeological and historical accounts. Sharing of prior knowledge with parents and community.

In what ways do things change on being heated? Do they change back on being cooled? Why does a burning candle get shorter?How much salt can be dissolved in a cup of water?

Key Concepts

Some changes can be reversed and others cannot be reversed.Solubility, saturated solutions. Amount of substance dissolving varies with temperature. At the same temperature amounts of different substances that dissolve varies.

Experiments involving heating of air, wax, paper, metal, water to highlight effects like burning, expansion/compression, change of state. Discussion on other changes which cannot be reversed – growing up, opening of a bud,ripening of fruit, curdling of milk. Experiments for testing the solubility of commonly available substances. Experiments on the effect of heating and cooling on solubility. Comparison of solubilities of different substances using nonstandard units (eg. spoon, paper cone).

STUDY - 3. The World of the Living

Are all things around us living? What is the difference between living and non-living? Are all living things similar? Do all living things move? Where do plants and animals live? Can we grow plants in the dark?

Potted plants or seeds, pots, etc; thermometer,any water plants, any xerophytic plants, Information on desert and aquatic plants and animals.

Activities

Listing the diverse set of living organisms around us; prepare herbarium specimens of different leaves, plants; studying modifications in plants and animals; observing how different environmental factors (water availability, temperature) affect living organisms;

What is the structure and function of various parts of the plants - stem, leaf and roots? How do different flowers differ from one another? How does one study flowers?

Key Concepts

Morphological structure and function of root, stem and leaves. Structure of the flower, differences.

Resources

Plants, flowers, blade, hand lens.

Activities

Studying plant parts types of stems, roots, leaves, seeds; experiment to show conduction by stem, activity to show anchorage by roots, absorption by roots. Study of any flower, counting number of parts, names of parts, cutting sections of ovary to observe ovules.

Measuring lengths and distances. Observation of different types of moving objects on land, in air, water and space. Identification and discrimination of various types of motion. Demonstrating objects having more than one type of movement (screw motion, bicycle wheel, fan, top etc.) Observing the periodic motion in hands of a clock / watch, sun, moon, earth.

Activity using a bulb, cell and key and connecting wire to show flow of current and identify closed and pen circuits. Making a switch. Opening up a dry cell. Experiment to show that some objects conductors) allow current to flow and others (insulators) do not.

Demonstrating how things are attracted by a magnet. Classification of objects into magnetic/non-magnetic classes. Activity to locate poles of a magnet; activity with iron filings and paper. Activities with suspended bar magnet and with compass needle. Activities to show that like poles repel and unlike poles attract.

Which are the things we can see through? When are shadows formed? Do you get a shadow at night – when there is no light in the room, no moonlight or other source of light? What colour is a shadow? On what kinds of surfaces can we see images?

Key Concepts

Classification of various materials in terms of transparent, translucent and opaque. A shadow is formed only when there is a source of light and an opaque material obstructs a source it. A shadow is black irrespective of the colour of the object. Reflecting surfaces; images are different from shadows.

Discussion, observation; looking across different materials at a source of light. Discussion; observing shadow formation of various objects of different shapes, and of same shape and different colours; playing and forming shadows with the hands in sunlight, in candle light, and in a well lit region during daytime; making a pinhole camera and observing static and moving objects. Observing differences between the image and the shadow of the same object.

STUDY - 7. Natural Resources

What will happen to soil, people, domestic animals, rivers, ponds and plants and animals if it does not rain this year? What will happen to soil, people, domestic animals, plants and animals living in rivers and ponds, if it rains heavily?

Key Concepts

Importance of water, dependence of the living on water. Droughts and floods.

Resources

Experience, newspaper reports

Activities

Estimation of water used by a family in one day, one month, one year. Difference between need and availability. Discussion. Activity: plant growth in normal, deficient and excess water conditions.

Do you throw away fruit and vegetable peels and cuttings? Can these be reused? If we dump them anywhere, will it harm the surroundings? What if we throw them in plastic bags?

Key Concepts

Waste; recycling of waste products; things that rot and things that don’t. Rotting is supported by animals/animal and plant products.

Resources

Observation and experience

Activities

Survey of solid waste generation by households; estimation of waste accumulated (by a house/ village/colony etc.) in a day, in a year; discussion on ‘what is waste’; Activity to show that materials rot in soil, this is affected by wrapping in plastics.